Helping to Fulfill Dreams – An OEO Success Story

“Of all the lighting retrofit solutions we considered, the OEO plug-and-play LED lamps were cost effective and fast to install – simply an amazing, high quality solution.”

-Troy Baughman, OwnerTM3 Sports, Elkhardt, IN

Let’s rewind back to June 2001 and the dream of a long-time local resident of Elkhart county. This dream was to open a sports complex in hometown and to offer the community a top-class, climate-controlled indoor facility so that members of all ages had the opportunity to excel both athletically and personally.

His dream was realized in the form of The TM3 Sports Center: the premiere competitive sporting facility in the metropolitan area, serving thousands of children and adults every year at the highest level in competitive sports. This commitment to the community means providing a clean, safe and friendly environment to welcome family and friends, and excellent lighting plays a key role in fulfilling this commitment.

In order to deliver on this promise, TM3 recently upgraded to OEO’s mercury free, “plug-n-play” LED lighting, and simply by changing “bulbs” the facility’s lighting levels were significantly improved to create a more productive and safer environment while drastically lowering its operating costs and carbon footprint.

Knowing of the recent significant advancements in lighting technology and always looking for new ways to improve the facility, the owner of TM3, Troy Baughan knew it was time to revisit which lighting solution would best suit his customers, and realized that it was time to upgrade from his metal halides with their ever-changing color drift.

TM3 considered replacing the existing fixtures and was shocked at the high install and fixture cost. There were 20 metal halide lamps to be replaced and the busy soccer center couldn’t be disrupted for such an extended period of time for lighting replacements and maintenance.

This challenge was solved when Troy discovered OEO’s affordable 470W LED (versus 1000W MH) “plug-and-play” “EZ LED” Lamp technology – the EZ LED. Of course, once OEO’s team helped Troy secure TM3’s upgrade rebate through its local utility that covered 2/3’s of the upgrade cost, the decision to upgrade became a clear no-brainer. It took less than two hours to install 20 high-bay HID LED Lamps, and to further minimize disruption, the OEO EZ LED Lamp – with a rated lifetime of 50,000 hours – will remove 5 lamp replacement cycles and eliminate ongoing maintenance costs.

The consistent 80+ CRI light color and improved light levels of the instant-on lamps made them the ideal solution. The HID LED Lamp can also endure the high temperatures often found in high-bay installations thanks to OEO’s Thermal IQ technology. TM3 members appreciate the dramatically improved field lighting and TM3 will be able to budget more for training and facility improvements and less on lighting energy cost.

This small and easy change meant that the members can now thrive in a safe, bright, productive environment while the owners can relax knowing that maintenance is no longer a constant challenge. It’s a win-win for everyone, both on and off the soccer field!

OEO HID LED Features

Plug-and-Play LED

Replacement up to 1000W

Metal Halides or HPS

52K delivered lumens

80+ CRI

5000K CCT

Over 50% energy savings

OEO HID LED Benefits

Power savings are immediate.

Plug and play installs fast without rewiring so it is the least disruptive and least expensive to install

Qualifies for many utility rebates and has a lower system power.

Drastic reduction in heat resulting in 17% lower AC costs along with 17% extended life of building AC system

50,000 hour life eliminates 3 – 5 replacement and recycling cycles

Light out is near full-spectrum daylight quality (over 80 CRI) which means truer colors and more natural appearance

The patented technology is at the heart of the HID LED Lamp. The advanced electronics integrated into the lamp enables the HID LED Lamp to be driven directly by the metal halide ballast. The plug and play technology makes metal halide lamps obsolete.